DELAY IN EPA VOC DECISION MAY HAMPER USE OF LESS-HARMFUL CHEMICAL

EPA's delay in exempting a chemical from regulation as a volatile organic compound (VOC) may postpone widespread use of the substance in a slew of ground-level ozone nonattainment areas -- even though EPA just approved it as an alternative to a chemical recently banned for depleting the stratospheric ozone layer, EPA and industry sources say. EPA's failure to finalize the VOC exemption discourages local areas out of attainment with federal ground-level ozone standards from allowing building contractors and others to...